Carrier
by Zaneytwilightgirl
Summary: Bella Swan has left the life she knew to protect those she loved. Contracting a disease, she is a carrier with the ability to infect and destroy with the touch of her skin. Exiling herself away from humanity, she seeks isolation, finding the perfect hideout from the world. The only problem is, she's not alone. Others have found this location and not everyone is willing to share.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

No one was coming for me. Even after I had made this choice, I felt deep down that they might come, that there would be some magic answer. But there was nothing left for me. They wouldn't be able to find me if they tried.

Nothing.

I couldn't keep hurting everyone I cared about. I couldn't keep from damaging everything beautiful in my life.

I'd never believed it was possible for something so pure to be so evil. But it was inside of me. It was a part of me. I couldn't listen to the fairy stories. My stories was something grittier. Something dirtier. Something so much darker than those.

I couldn't avoid it anymore.

I breathed deeply and tried to tug the coat sides closer together. Breathing felt dangerous. Looking someone in the eye felt dangerous. The train ride to the edge of the city had more suspenseful than watching Michael Myers walk after his victim.

Victims.

I felt my eyes glide over the cars flying past me, a child waved in a rear window. They could all be my victims. And if that was the case, what was I?

Air struggled against the lump encased in my throat.

The orange sun was setting as I walked away from everyone and everything I had ever known—what was left of it, that was.

I tried to strengthen my shoulders and brace myself against the wind. I would survive this alone because it was my only option. No one would come to save me. No one could.

I was Bella Swan, a girl with a sense of self, an untapped reserve of love, and a deadly weapon lurking underneath my skin.

I was a carrier.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I had made it. Alaska had been the end goal and now I was in one of the most remote places I had access to. A car hadn't passed me on the road for hours and even though it was fall, the cold was nearly unbearable.

I had hitchhiked when necessary, though I had been careful to not touch. Touching couldn't happen. Even when people had tried to be safe, it was impossible with me. An invisible shiver ruptured through me. I couldn't be discerning. I couldn't protect anyone from me. But enough was enough and I had to put a stop to it.

No one had listened because they hadn't wanted to hear me. Not Charlie, not Jess. Only Jake had listened and I could hear his doubts in the silence between them. He hadn't wanted to let me go … was so sure that I couldn't hurt him. But the fact was, I knew.

I had been a coward before, I knew. I shook my head at the truth and tried to brace myself against the biting wind.

At least, even if he hadn't wanted to, Jake had helped me. Without Jake's help, I never would have made it out.

Charlie would have tried to stop me because he knew the risks to me being along—to me being found out. If the wrong people found out, I knew the testing, the hunting would begin and never end until someone had gotten what they wanted.

Jake had told me he didn't believe me—I was overreacting, I would be fine, he would take care of me. I was wrong. It couldn't be true. But the fact was, he hadn't touched me once in all that time. Not one brush of skin.

And now, I had made it.

Walking along, I realized I had absolutely no idea what to do, where to go, how to survive. I racked my brain, turning on a dirt road, trying to remember those man vs. nature episodes, the ones with the guy named Bear.

I came up short.

The light was fading and while I was used to sleeping in the open in the dark, this was the most isolated I had been and I felt a chill of fear brush my spine as I found an indented tree trunk. It made a tiny shelter and I curled into it. Try as I might, I couldn't keep my eyes shut for more than a few seconds at a time. I could feel the eyes watching me. But what kind of eyes …. Well, I probably didn't want to know.

I must have slept though because suddenly I was awake and it was still dark. I let my eyes open and screamed. It was a piercing shrill trill of terror and I backed into the tree harshly. The golden eyes disappeared into the night. Whatever it had been had been so close to me. I instinctively reached blindly and began climbing. Slipping and sliding I used what little arm strength I had and hauled myself onto the lowest limb. Hopefully he wouldn't get me from up here. The limb was long and thick I had room to sit comfortably. I wouldn't have thought I would sleep again, but then, with the dawn, my lids lowered hesitantly, finally resting.

The next morning I woke early, it had probably been a nightmare, I reasoned, thinking about those golden eyes. I stretched carefully, very aware of my height and so relieved I hadn't turned and fallen in my sleep. Then, looking down, my movements froze.

Heart rate soaring I realized it hadn't been a nightmare. A huge coat was draped over my lap. And it wasn't the one I was still wearing.

**A/N:** Hey, thanks for stopping by, hope you liked the chapter, there will be more to come. Reviews are highly encouraged, they definitely motivate me in lots of good ways, so feel free to leave a comment telling me what you thought! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I stared at the coat. It was a nice material. It had a soft lining and was probably extremely expensive. It was a horrifyingly lovely discovery. I climbed down out of the tree, falling a little more than jumping down. The coat came with me. I held it out suspiciously and observed the sheer immense size of it. The owner had to be big. Fear trickled into my mind.

Someone—supposedly a very large male someone—had climbed into the tree and been right beside me while I was sleeping. That thought disturbed and distressed my mind so much that I just stared in a daze at the brown material.

Finally breaking free, I supposed the good news was that he hadn't decided to kill me last night. I was lucky. Looking at my hands I felt a new fear rush to life. I hoped he hadn't touched me!

That had been the whole point. I hadn't wanted to start an epidemic so I had tried to get away from people and someone had climbed into a tree with me!

It was so cold and a shock of wind blasted through my insubstantial coat. I looked longingly at the material in my hands, then whirling and looking through the trees. Was he still around? I couldn't hear anything. I stared suspiciously at it again. Should I … would it really be a big deal if I took it? He had left it with me.

It felt slightly wrong, but I slid on the coat, feeling how heavy and huge it was. It hung to just above my knees and engulfed my body. Instant warm encompassed me.

I liked it.

That felt guilty too.

Starting to walk through the trees, I found what looked like a deer path and took it. I was slowly starting to realize that this had been a bad plan. I had good intentions, but even though the sun was shining and the birds were chirping and I wasn't (hopefully) infecting anyone, I liked my bed. I liked my house. I missed Charlie and Jake. I didn't even like the outdoors. And I didn't want this to be forever. I came to a tiny stream and sat down on a rock. I pulled out my ipod and listened for a few blissful minutes to the soothing music. I felt hot tears slide down my face and I started choking with sobs.

I missed my mom.

Breathing in ragged breaths, I turned off the ipod to conserve the precious battery. A glint of light blinded me momentarily an I looked across the stream. It was a little shack. Maybe the man's? I got a little wet crossing the stream, but I had to know. Creeping close to the building, I looked in and breathed a sigh of relief. That man had probably been a hunter. This little cabin definitely hadn't been lived in for a good many years. I cracked the door open, not believing in my luck.

I unpacked the stuff in my backpack and then examined my surroundings. It was dusty. Very dusty. There was a single bed on rusted springs. A fireplace that I would have no idea how to start. There was a tiny kitchen and a small bathroom. Flipping the light switches I wasn't surprised that there was no electricity. But as disappointing as that was, it was comforting also. I brushed and shook most of the dust off of the bed and then flopped down. So … now what? What would I do with myself?

After taking a nap, I decided to explore the cabinets and when the creaked open I was pretty excited to see that there was a healthy amount of old canned food. Behind the second cabinet door, there was a stack of paper and pens. Maybe it had been a reclusive writer who had lived here? Taking some of the paper and a pen, I left the rest of my stuff inside and walked over to the stream, using a sizable rock as a table, I sat on the ground.

It would be fun to write stories. That was something I could do. But first, a plan. I would have to go back to the town eventually. I would make trips. I had plenty of money—all of my savings, and I would start a garden probably too. There was a well and it looked like the running water came from that. Whoever it was had kept that maintained, if only by a distance. That was a good and a bad thing. I would see about living somewhere else if the need came. Maybe she would build something herself? No, I shook my head. I wanted it to be a stable place.

A headache emerged and I groaned in pain as it came swift and stabbing through my skull. I cringed and grasped my head until the pain finally passed. It wasn't anything compared to what I'd done though. Regaining normal breath, I tried to focus. I was still wearing the big coat, and the sleeves dragged across the page. The scent was comforting, though it should have been anything but.

I looked up at the sky and laid down on my back. I would figure it out as it went. It would work out. It had to.

"Hey Mom," I whispered softly and smiled into the sunlight. "I miss you a lot. And I wish you were here with me—of course if you were here, we wouldn't be _here_." I laughed. "I guess I'm doing okay and I'm just kind of scared, but I hope that you're doing fine, you know, wherever you are. I'm really sorry about what happened. And I know you wouldn't blame me, but I still can't help it."

I paused and touched the collar of the coat. "Someone found me last night and left me this coat. They could have been a crazy, but I'm really hoping not. Anyway, I'm sure they've gone now. And I'm really glad they didn't kill me."

I closed my eyes against the light and felt my features tighten. "Can you just make sure and watch over Charlie … and Jake too if you have time? I had to leave, but I wish I could know they were okay …."

I didn't have anything left to say, so I drew off and simply listened to the sounds around her. Finally, I sat up and picked up the pen. Time for some writing. Maybe a fairy tale. I scratched that idea and started on a horror story. Much more appropriate.

**Other POV**

I came back to the house without my coat. I hoped they wouldn't notice, but of course, Alice made a beeline for me as I headed up the stairs quickly.

"Where have you been?" She asked in that voice—it was always borderline sing-song. I sighed in resignation. She had known.

"Alice I went for a walk. I wanted out for a little bit."

"Where's your coat?" She asked innocently, tilting her head so her inky hair felt forward.

"Alice," I growled.

A grin spread across the devil's face. "I promise," she whispered in a tone too low for anyone else to hear. "I won't tell a soul." She straightened suddenly and gave me a searching look. "So far you've been fine. Are you really fine?"

I nodded. I didn't want to talk about it with everyone in the house. "I wouldn't do anything. You know that. Now, finished?" I asked shortly.

"_Exciting things_," Alice murmured as she left my room. "Exciting things are going to be happening around here."

**A/N:** Hey, thanks for stopping by, hope you liked the chapter, there will be more to come! Reviews are highly encouraged, they definitely motivate me in lots of good ways, so feel free to leave a comment telling me what you thought! Thanks for all of the great feedback last time and as always, thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Someone was watching me. It had been days since I had been living in the little cabin, and there had been countless instances where the hair would stand straight up on the back of my neck.

But no one had done anything to come in contact with me. I wasn't sure if that was better or worse. Rubbing my eyes, I shivered against the harsh cold. There was a quilted blanket on the bed, but it didn't provide much protection against the biting freeze.

I had hung the table cloth over the window. I had felt eyes on me and hadn't been able to sleep. Of course, the eyes weren't the only things that kept me awake. The nightmares were a good deterrent to closing my eyes too.

Finally after restlessness and shifting under the blanket of cold, I started to fall into that limbo of a conscious near sleep.

My mind still resisted—it remembered the daily nightmares too—but I was almost under.

And then, something wasn't right. Hazily, I tried to focus. The room was blurry for an instant and then it was in focus. And that sound that had woke me was the door blowing open with the wind. My heart stopped.

My door was open. I was torn and frozen. Did I jump and slam it shut … or would I run into whoever or whatever had opened it?

I had sworn I locked it.

Maybe it was the owner of the cabin.

Or someone worse.

I couldn't breathe, a gasp was also frozen with the wind whipping the slowly creaking door.

_Breathe_, _breathe_, _breathe_. _Think_, _think_, _think_, I chanted to myself.

Moving swiftly and silently, I was halfway out of the bed when a booted foot stepped across my doorway. My body went stock still. My mind was screaming _move_, but my body wasn't listening.

Then, the foot was ripped away without ever revealing its bodily counterpart. A series of ripping snarls and hisses followed, which didn't make sense to me since at least one of the fighters was human.

But it was the break I needed and I raced to the door, tripping and stumbling. I slammed the door shut, and locked it violently, seeing nothing in the darkness before shutting it. I could still hear it though. The noises were turning stranger. A high keening noise breached my ears and I huddled on the bed, clasping my hands over them. I didn't want to hear that.

It was disturbing and I kept thinking about the possibility that whatever had pulled that booted foot away hadn't been saving me, but saving me for itself. Whatever it was …

I was suddenly so happy that I had put the cloth over the window. A particularly ugly scene from the horror movie 30 Days of Night popped into my head. Barrow, Alaska, vampires, and 30 days of night. I didn't want to look out my window and see the hideousness of one of those vampires. If that was what I was dealing with, I knew for a fact I wouldn't make it out of this alive.

I pulled out of my own head and realized the noises had stopped. I thought the silence might have been worse.

But despite the fact that I stayed up all night waiting in the dark for something to come, it never came again. I went to sleep in the morning and woke up late that afternoon. After eating some nuts for "breakfast," I went outside hesitantly to see if I could figure out what had happened.

In the daylight it felt as though it was a dream. But I knew it was no dream.

There were marks on the door frame as though a person had been dragged from it. Similar marks followed in the ground. There were indentations (in the ground?!) and ripped up grass. Then I turned back on the porch, too confused to do much else and saw it sitting there, propped so prettily.

It was a basket. I opened it up and my eyes widened. It was full of chips, cookies, peanut butter, bread, jelly, crackers … it was stuffed full. I whirled and darted my eyes around the woods. No one was there. That I could see, I amended.

For a moment, I hesitated. It could be poisoned. But then, who would do that? Who would take the time?

My stalker? But then, whoever (whatever) it was had saved me. I thought. So maybe it was okay.

I was starving and I knew then that there was really no decision to be made. Looking around once more, I snatched up the basket, staggering underneath the weight and dragged it inside. I slammed and locked the door just to be safe and then, mouth watering, plucked out an apple and bit into it. Heaven. I closed my eyes in bliss. And whoever had given it to me? My guardian angel.

**Other POV**

I watched the girl look around like a wary deer before moving quickly and taking the basket. I had hoped she would like it. From the sound of the sigh and chewing sounds, she did.

I smiled. She needed sustenance and I had provided it. After so long, to have her to take care of made me feel _right_. Made me remember …

I shied away from that and my thoughts turned to last night. The rogue vampire would never bother her—or anyone—ever again, but I would have to be vigilant—especially at night.

With a wince, I knew this would cause even more problems I wasn't ready to answer.

But remembering her surprised and wary excitement stiffened my resolve. Screw the problems.

**A/N:** So I changed a little bit of the back story to firm up the fic. Be sure to re-read so you don't get confused later on! Hope you liked the chapter! Reviews are highly encouraged, they definitely motivate me in lots of good ways, so feel free to leave a comment telling me what you thought! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I was in the middle of some heated dialogue between the navy seal and his best friend's sister who had snuck into his mission when I heard the birds take flight. He was back. My stalker was silent and I never saw him, but whenever I was outside, I would hear him through the nature he disturbed. The birds were the best way.

I wasn't scared anymore. I had been at first. I had been afraid that he had touched me, but clearly, he was still alive. I also had lost the fear that he would kill me or was out to hurt me. He would have done that weeks ago. And then there were the presents.

I shook my head and glanced at the gold pen in my hand and new stacks of paper. He had left the writing supplies a few days ago. That was along with the food that arrived nearly every day and the warm sweaters and a coat. It was an expensive, new coat, but I still (perhaps foolishly) clung to the heavy workman's coat that draped my figure. It comforted me.

So why wouldn't he come out of hiding?

Screwing up my face, I exhaled deeply and decided I had to try it.

Putting my pages to the side, I climbed up on the rock near the stream and scanned the tree line.

"Hello?" I called out and waited.

Nothing.

"I know you're there, I know you've been helping me," I tried again.

Silence.

Pouting, I pursed my lips and thought.

"Well then, I guess if you're not really there, then I'm just crazy, right?" I looked down at my deadly hands and snorted. "Just what I need … to be crazy on top of everything else."

"You're not crazy."

My head whipped up sharply at the deeply melodic voice that traveled to me from the other side of the stream.

"You're real?" I whispered to myself, but somehow, he heard.

"Yes, as real as you are."

It felt like an out of body experience.

"Who are you?"

"Who are _you_?" The voice challenged. "And why are you out here all alone?"

I set my jaw. I wouldn't allow a voice to ride roughshod over me.

"I asked you first."

Silence.

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, don't answer, but don't expect me to either."

There was a faint rustling.

"Do you have any family," the male voice posed unexpectedly.

"I—" I caught myself. "My father, my mother—died."

"I'm sorry." The words rang sincere. "I lost my family a long time ago. It doesn't get easier."

I propped my elbows on my knees and dropped my face into my cupped hands. I shivered, but the coat mostly kept me warm. "Tell me about them."

And he did. As he spoke, I let the words run over me, flooding me with welcome sensation. It had been a while since I'd talked to someone. And talked to them without fear. Perhaps I should still have fear, perhaps I was foolish, but I didn't care.

"What about your mother?" The angel's voice probed.

"She was the best. A little crazy—she didn't and really couldn't take care of herself, but she loved everyone so much. She always got these ideas and I would usually go along with them. We used to do stuff all the time. I always felt like she was one of the few people who I could just let go and be with."

"What do you mean crazy stuff?"

"Well," I laughed slightly, "I guess I was mostly thinking about the one Halloween when I got upset because I couldn't go trick-or-treating and she made me make my own costume. I was miserable, all dressed up with nowhere to go and it turns out she had called all of her friends and got them to drive over to our house to do a reverse trick-or-treat. My dad was pretty mad when he found out, but it went okay, nothing happened. It was the best Halloween ever."

"Why couldn't you go trick-or-treating."

I froze. "I … just couldn't."

"What happened to her?" The voice asked softly.

"She got sick and died."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to stare into the water through my brimming tears.

"When?"

"A couple of months ago." The words were choked.

"I'm so sorry." The words, were genuine. I could tell without looking into the angel's eyes. I knew.

"It's okay." I sniffed and stared into the trees. "Why are you out here?"

"I … I need a break from humanity," the words finally emerged.

I laughed. "So you found the only human you could in a hundred mile radius?"

The voice was rueful. "Something like that."

"What's your name?"

I hesitated and wondered if he would be able to recognize me from my name. "I'd rather not use my real name," I said finally.

"Fine then," the angel thought for a moment. "How about if I call you Annie?"

I smiled. My angel would pick a name like that.

"Annie's okay. And for you … Gabriel?"

"Gabriel?" The voice sounded startled.

"You are like my guardian angel," I hesitantly admitted and relaxed at his laughter.

"I guess I'm okay with being an angel. Gabe it is then."

They talked until I started to shiver continuously.

"You should go inside and make sure to keep warm," Gabriel urged.

"I will," I promised. "Will you be okay? Do you have a place to stay, to go?"

A chuckle emerged. "I have a place. But Annie? Make sure you stay inside and keep the door locked. There are some things in this place you wouldn't want to run into in the dark."

I shivered now for a different reason. I remembered the night.

"I will. Will we … talk again?" I asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing Annie, you take care."

I went inside and it wasn't until a bird landed on the grass outside the cabin that I knew he had gone.

But hopefully he would be back.

**A/N:** We're getting into things guys! I was so happy with all of the wonderful reviews I got, thanks so much for your input! Hope you liked the chapter! Reviews are highly encouraged, they definitely motivate me in lots of good ways, so feel free to leave a comment telling me what you thought! Thanks for reading!


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